Holiday Dangers for Your Cat - Christmas can be deadly for your pet

Christmas time can be a very exciting time for people and cats alike. After all, we put actual trees in thehouse, cover them with things that move and roll if knocked down, put a new fancy blanket that is devoidof cat hair under it and then circle it with stringy, shiny stuff. Christmas is a fantastically fun time if you are a cat.Unfortunately, many of the things that people love about Christmas can be potentially dangerous to cats.

The trees themselves are generally not overly toxic to them nor is the tree water if they drink it (as long asthere are no additives in it), but either could cause mild gastrointestinal upset. Getting pine sap on themwill lead to ingestion when grooming which can also cause GI upset. If your cat gets pine sap on it, try toremove it with a bit of dawn dish soap and a comb. You can also cut the hair with the sap in it as long as it isn’t close to the skin.

Lights, ornaments and tinsel oh my!! Lights are on strands and can be very tempting for your cat to chewon. Electric shock, electrical burns to tongue and lips and even electrocution can occur if they bitethrough the cords. Keep lights wrapped into the tree to avoid easy access and pulling them off.Ornaments can be swallowed, broken, chewed on and some can even be toxic. Small ornaments thatmight seem appealing to your cat should be kept towards the top of the tree. Try to keep glass or fragilethings out of their reach as well. Most cats won’t eat broken glass but they can get glass slivers or cuts.Some homemade ornaments are made from a high salt base substance. If animals ingest these they can getsalt toxicity so keep these away from the lower levels as well. Tinsel, garland and ice cicles are commonthings that cats eat and then need emergency surgery to remove. Cats are drawn to eating linear (stringlike) things. The texture of the tinsel, the sound of it when they chew on it, the string it is on...allwonderfully interesting to a cat. Many cats eat it and part of it gets stuck within the stomach while the restof it tries to pass through intestines. This creates an obstruction that can perforate the intestines. Theobstruction is life threatening. Emergency surgery is needed in these situations.

Poinsettia plants can be toxic to cats as well. They generally cause gastrointestinal signs like vomiting,diarrhea, and not eating but in large quantities could affect other things. It is best to avoid having realpoinsettia plants in the home if you have cats. Sometimes lilies are used in Christmas arrangements aswell, however they are extremely toxic to cats. Ingesting even some of the pollen that gets on their fur can be deadly.As cat owners, we can still have our trees and our lights and our ornaments but we should takeprecautions to help our cats not make poor decisions regarding them. There is a reason that the saying“curiosity killed the cat” came to be...they just can’t help themselves! Best wishes for a fun and safeholiday season!